Abstract
Free-standing paper-like or foil-like materials are an integral part of our technological society. Their uses include protective layers, chemical filters, components of electrical batteries or supercapacitors, adhesive layers, electronic or optoelectronic components, and molecular storage1. Inorganic ‘paper-like’ materials based on nanoscale components such as exfoliated vermiculite or mica platelets have been intensively studied2,3 and commercialized as protective coatings, high-temperature binders, dielectric barriers and gas-impermeable membranes4,5. Carbon-based flexible graphite foils5,6,7 composed of stacked platelets of expanded graphite have long been used8,9 in packing and gasketing applications because of their chemical resistivity against most media, superior sealability over a wide temperature range, and impermeability to fluids. The discovery of carbon nanotubes brought about bucky paper10, which displays excellent mechanical and electrical properties that make it potentially suitable for fuel cell and structural composite applications11,12,13,14. Here we report the preparation and characterization of graphene oxide paper, a free-standing carbon-based membrane material made by flow-directed assembly of individual graphene oxide sheets. This new material outperforms many other paper-like materials in stiffness and strength. Its combination of macroscopic flexibility and stiffness is a result of a unique interlocking-tile arrangement of the nanoscale graphene oxide sheets.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Pitkethly, M. J. Nanomaterials—the driving force. Nanotoday 7, 20–29 (2004)
Ballard, D. G. H. & Rideal, G. R. Flexible inorganic films and coatings. J. Mater. Sci. 18, 545–561 (1983)
Kellar, J. J. Functional Fillers and Nanoscale Minerals: New Markets/ New Horizons (Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Littleton, Colorado, 2006)
US. Samica 〈www.ussamica.com〉 (Isovolta Inc./US Samica, Rutland, Vermont, 2007)
Dowell, M. B. & Howard, R. A. Tensile and compressive properties of flexible graphite foils. Carbon 24, 311–323 (1986)
Leng, Y., Gu, J., Cao, W. & Zhang, T. Y. Influences of density and flake size on the mechanical properties of flexible graphite. Carbon 36, 875–881 (1998)
Reynolds, R. A. & Greinke, R. A. Influence of expansion volume of intercalated graphite on tensile properties of flexible graphite. Carbon 39 (3). 479–481 (2001)
Grafoil. 〈http://www.graftechaet.com/Home/Brands/GRAFOIL.aspx〉 (GrafTech International Inc., Lakewood, Ohio, copyright, 2005)
Sigraflex. 〈http://www.sglcarbon.com/sgl_t/expanded/markets/energy/power_plants.html〉 (SGL Carbon AG, Wiesbaden, Germany, copyright 2000–, 2007)
Liu, J. et al. Fullerene pipes. Science 280, 1253–1256 (1998)
Baughman, R. H. et al. Carbon nanotube actuators. Science 284, 1340–1344 (1999)
Hennrich, F. et al. Preparation, characterization and applications of free-standing single walled carbon nanotube thin films. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 4, 2273–2277 (2002)
Coleman, J. N. et al. Improving the mechanical properties of single-walled carbon nanotube sheets by intercalation of polymeric adhesives. Appl. Phys. Lett. 82, 1682–1684 (2003)
Berhan, L. et al. Mechanical properties of nanotube sheets: Alterations in joint morphology and achievable moduli in manufacturable materials. J. Appl. Phys. 95, 4335–4345 (2004)
Titelman, G. I. et al. Characteristics and microstructure of aqueous colloidal dispersions of graphite oxide. Carbon 43, 641–649 (2005)
Stankovich, S. et al. Stable aqueous dispersions of graphitic nanoplatelets via the reduction of exfoliated graphite oxide in the presence of poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate). J. Mater. Chem. 16, 155–158 (2006)
Stankovich, S. et al. Graphene-based composite materials. Nature 442, 282–286 (2006)
Stankovich, S. et al. Synthesis of graphene-based nanosheets via chemical reduction of exfoliated graphite oxide. Carbon. 45, 1558–1564 (2007)
Scholz, W. & Boehm, H. P. Untersuchungen am graphitoxid. VI. Betrachtungen zur struktur des graphitoxids. Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 369, 327–340 (1969)
Lerf, A. et al. Hydration behavior and dynamics of water molecules in graphite oxide. J. Phys. Chem. Solids 67, 1106–1110 (2006)
Bartram, S. F. in Handbook of X-rays (ed. Kaelble, E. F.) 17.1–17 (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1967)
Zhang, X. F., Sreekumar, T. V., Liu, T. & Kumar, S. Properties and structure of nitric acid oxidized single wall carbon nanotube films. J. Phys. Chem. B 108, 16435–16440 (2004)
Ward, I. M. Mechanical Properties of Solid Polymers Ch. 11 329–398 (Wiley, Chichester/New York, 1983)
Soule, D. E. & Nezbeda, C. W. Direct basal-plane shear in single-crystal graphite. J. Appl. Phys. 39, 5122–5139 (1968)
Tang, Z., Kotov, N., Magonov, S. & Ozturk, B. Nanostructured artificial nacre. Nature Mater. 2, 413–418 (2003)
Alava, M. & Niskanen, K. The physics of paper. Rep. Prog. Phys. 69, 669–723 (2006)
Timoshenko, S. P. & Goodier, J. N. Theory of Elasticity (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1970)
Hummers, W. S. & Offeman, R. E. Preparation of graphite oxide. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 80, 1339 (1958)
Acknowledgements
We appreciate support from NASA through the University Research, Engineering and Technology Institute (URETI) on Bio-inspired Materials (BiMat), and from the NSF. This work made use of X-ray facilities supported by the MRSEC programme of the National Science Foundation at the Materials Research Center of Northwestern University, and the X23B beamline of the National Synchrotron Light Source supported by the US Department of Energy. We thank I. M. Daniel for the use of his mechanical testing instruments, and A. L. Ruoff for commenting on an earlier version of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
Reprints and permissions information is available at www.nature.com/reprints. The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Supplementary information
Supplementary Information
This file contains Supplementary Discussion and Supplementary Data including three Supplementary Figures with Legends, Supplementary Table and additional references. (PDF 670 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dikin, D., Stankovich, S., Zimney, E. et al. Preparation and characterization of graphene oxide paper. Nature 448, 457–460 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06016
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06016
This article is cited by
-
Preparation of PDA-GO/CS composite scaffold and its effects on the biological properties of human dental pulp stem cells
BMC Oral Health (2024)
-
Stepwise reduction of graphene oxide and studies on defect-controlled physical properties
Scientific Reports (2024)
-
Efficient CO2 adsorption using chitosan, graphene oxide, and zinc oxide composite
Scientific Reports (2024)
-
Bidirectionally promoting assembly order for ultrastiff and highly thermally conductive graphene fibres
Nature Communications (2024)
-
Staggered structural dynamic-mediated selective adsorption of H2O/D2O on flexible graphene oxide nanosheets
Nature Communications (2024)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.